Welcome to our Featured Artists section, where we are delighted to showcase some excellent artists from around the world and their amazing work using Pentel products.

Jonny RiggsJonny lives in the beautiful coastal town of South Shields, where he spends his time creating art from his home studio. His use of medium and style mixes traditional pencil portraiture and modern comic strip / pop art. He works in a variety of mixed mediums, mainly a section of graphite/pencils, watercolours and copic markers, his work often employs bold lines, soft shading and warm colouring. Aged just 10 he was awarded an Art scholarship to attend the prestigious Royal boarding school, King Edwards, where he spent the next 9 years studying fine art and later attended Sunderland University. Jonny has exhibited his work all over the North of England and he is an active ambassador of the arts. He’s spent the last two years working with local schools and colleges to inspire the next generation of artist. Jonny’s has won many awards for his hard work and dedication.To see more of Jonny’s work visit www.facebook.com/jrportrait

Julie RhodesJulie has been drawing wildlife all her life. After studying at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, she now works as a professional wildlife and animal portrait artist from her home in Cornwall. Julie works solely in pencil, creating highly detailed drawings.

Julie's original work can be found at wildlife exhibitions throughout the country including N.E.W.A, T.W.A.S.I and M.I.W.A.S (Marwell International Wildlife Art Society) and The Mall Galleries, London. Many of her drawings are available as limited edition prints to buy online at www.julierhodes.com

Igor LukyanovIgor Lukyanov is a highly experienced freelance artist, illustrator and graphic designer from Ukraine working internationally, and has recently started his independent career as an illustrator.

Steve PratchettSteve Pratchett was trained in Art, & Education at Trent Park College, London, specialising in perspex sculpture from 1967-1971. During his career, he taught art to Primary children and trained Primary Teachers in art & design at the University College, Plymouth, St Mark & St John (UCP Marjon).

His fascination has always been with light and shadow, whether working with direct light in his perspex sculptures or in his paintings and oil pastels. He tries to capture the drama and mood that light creates in a landscape and still life studies.

Currently, he lives in the Tamar Valley in Devon, where he is a member of the‘Drawn to the Valley’ group of artists. Being designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, it is an inspiration for many of his landscapes. To see more of Steve's work visit www.stevepratchettartist.com

Suzanne GoughSuzanne has been drawing all her life and is a self-taught artist.

Recently, she turned professional creating her art by working primarily from photographs. Her work is crafted using pencils, pens, inks and watercolours which results in beautiful portraits known in style as 'realism'. Suzanne has won many competitions with her artwork and is currently setting up her own website. However, you can bookmark her now at http://artbysue.webs.com/ and watch as she adds more bespoke artwork like 'Ben' shown here.

Alison Barlow

Alison is a self-taught artist and has been drawing and painting for most of her life. The winning entry ‘Isabella Womble’ was recently chosen as the cover for the book ‘1000 Dog Portraits’ which also features a further five of her portraits.

Alison dedicates her time to painting and loves using watercolours, pen and ink and more recently she has started to experiment with oil pastels. Her passion is drawing dogs, mainly rescue dogs as she has five of her own she is never short of a model! She also enjoys drawing wildlife and birds. Alison is in the process of developing her website where you will soon be able to see more of her fantastic work.

Andrew Holmes

Andrew is self taught, freelance artist and specialises in graphite pencil drawing. He has always drawn from a young age, and in recent years, has seen his skills and portfolio grow substantially thanks to the popular commission service he offers. Andrew has a passion for drawing animals, and whilst a lot of his artwork is inspired by his home county of Northumberland, the majority of his portfolio consists of dog portraits drawn for commissions. He uses a range of Pentel mechanical pencils loaded with Pentel Ain Stein leads, as well as tortillions and cotton wool on cartridge paper to create his artwork.

Laura has always loved creating, from monsters made of egg boxes as a child, to highly detailed illustrations as an adult. She is hugely inspired by concept art for films and tv as well as the natural world. Laura completed a BA in technical arts and special effects at Wimbledon School of Art in 2008 and an MA in children's book illustration at Cambridge School of Art in 2015. She is hoping to be able to make a career from various artistic projects, including illustrating books and selling prints and cards. Her work can be seen on her website www.laurathompsonart.com which will be updated with new work as often as possible.